Check Out Fortnite’s Awesomely Detailed PAX Mini-Golf Course
After building a theme park at Gamescom 2018, Epic Games' Fortnite has opted for a bit of sport for its PAX West 2018 showing - namely, a tough, detailed mini-golf course.
IGN's intrepid golfers hit the Lazy links at PAX for nine holes of Fortnite-inspired mini-golf. Check out dozens of photos of the golf course below to see the tricky shots we had to make to keep somewhat around par.
For more on Fortnite, stay tuned to our in-depth video tour of the golf course, and make sure you check out the details on the latest announced Fortnite event, High Stakes.
The Top 10 Movies at the Summer 2018 Domestic Box Office
With Labor Day upon us and summer coming to a close, let's look back at how Hollywood fared at the North American box office this past season. Disney had four of the Top 10 movies released at the domestic box office this summer, with Avengers: Infinity War leading the pack with $678.7 million.
It's been a matter of debate, however, whether Infinity War even counts as a summer movie since Disney bumped its release from May 4th to April 27th. In the past, a film released on the last weekend in April was a spring release, but Hollywood continues to blur the lines between actual seasons and "movie" seasons. If we were being strict about the actual definition of "summer" then only movies released between June 21 and September 22, 2018, would count as summer movies. But Hollywood doesn't do that. And since IGN included Infinity War in its summer movie preview, we're going to keep it defined as one for the purposes of this box office wrap-up.
Marvel Reveals Hidden Connection Between Wolverine and Venom
This week Marvel revealed that Wolverine and Venom have a history going back much further than anyone realized.
Warning: this article contains spoilers for Web of Venom: Ve'Nam #1!
Web of Venom: Ve'Nam is a spinoff of the current Venom comic, one that delves deeper into Venom's newly expanded mythology. Recently, Eddie Brock learned that his symbiote wasn't the first to arrive on Earth. The US military created an entire team of symbiote-powered super-soldiers during the Vietnam War. This issue sheds a bit more light on the history of this ill-fated team.
The Conners: First On-Set Photo of the Roseanne Spinoff Released
ABC has released the first on-set photo of the cast at what appears to be the first table read for the Roseanne spinoff, The Conners, which will not be featuring Roseanne Barr.
Revealed via The Conners Twitter account, the picture was tweeted with the words "#TheConners: Day 1" and features, from left to right: Sara Gilbert, Jayden Rey, Michael Fishman, Ames McNamara, John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Lecy Goranson, and Emma Kenney.
One of Dota’s Weirdest Heroes Is Becoming One of Artifacts Craziest Cards
Not all existing Dota 2 heroes are guaranteed to make it into Valve’s next game, Artifact, but this crafty Geomancer, Meepo, is confirmed to get a card counterpart, and IGN has the first details on his cards.
In Artifact, almost every known hero card has either a passive or active ability and a signature spell card. Meepo is unique in that his card has both an active and a passive. His active ability, Poof, allows Meepo to move to an allied Meepos lane and deal 2 damage to his new enemy neighbors. His passive or “continuous effect” ability, United We Fall, requires that if Meepo dies, allied Meepos in other lanes die too.
Like in Dota 2, Meepo’s signature spell allows him to summon another Meepo. You can see the spell card and the art for other Meepo in the slideshow below. Each hero comes with three copies of their signature spell card, so there’s potential to have four Meepos across the board at once.
How Valve Won’t Let Artifact’s Marketplace Get Crazy Expensive
Artifact, the next game from Half-Life developer Valve, is decidedly bucking digital card game trends. Not only is it not free-to-play, it’s not going to have any kind of free in-game currency to spend on cards -- a decision Valve tells me is to avoid the grind that can make other CCGs feel like a job instead of a game.
“At its core, we want you to play the game because you enjoy playing the game,” programmer Brandon Reinhart told me when I visited Valve last week. They don’t want you to feel obligated to do daily quests just so you have enough gold to get a pack that might have the card you want. They want you to just play the game.
So instead of the usual digital model, Artifact is following a physical one like that of Magic: The Gathering -- whose creator, Richard Garfield, is also the lead designer of Artifact. It will have a $20 price tag that gets you two full decks and 10 card packs, and all card packs after that cost $2 each.
Valve Is ‘Very Aware of All the Jokes’ People Make
It’s hard to go long on the internet without running into a ‘Half-Life 3 confirmed’ joke, the eternal meme as we collectively wait for the third installment of Valve’s legendary FPS series to materialize. And speaking to the development team of Valve’s next game, Artifact, at their office in Seattle last week, Valve clearly hasn’t missed those jokes either.
“I think we're very aware of all the jokes because all of us lurk all the forums and share them around with each other,” says Jeep Barnett, a programmer on Artifact and a member of the original team that made Narbacular Drop, who were all hired to create Portal as a result.
Why Torchlight Frontiers Is My Most Anticipated ARPG Since Diablo 2
Immediately upon playing Torchlight Frontiers, I was presented with a choice between the two currently playable classes: the Dusk Mage and Forged. The former is a powerful magic user charged with wielding both the immense powers of dark and light in perpetual harmony. The latter is a robot. I chose the robot.
I felt an immediate sense of adoration for my sputtering little steampunk monstrosity, who looked inescapably like Maurice's cast iron furnace contraption from Beauty and the Beast. As Echtra Games CEO Max Schaefer explained, my little automaton wouldn't simply equip gear but would instead integrate it into his body. If I equipped a rare pair of leggings, for example, they might change my four spider-like robot-legs into two sturdy tank treads.
Survivor of Jacksonville Shooting Sues EA and Venue
One of the survivors of the Jacksonville shooting has officially filed a lawsuit against EA, the venue the tournament took place, and six other potentially liable parties.
The survivor, Jacob Mitich, competed in the tournament and sustained injuries after being shot twice. The lawsuit in question (via The Hollywood Reporter) claims the various parties are liable due to negligence in not providing sufficient security measures, and for hosting the tournament at an unsuitable venue in the first place.
The lawsuit points at The Landing marketplace, which houses the GLHF Game Bar where the shooting took place. It states: “Once a thriving and popular shopping, dining and tourist destination, The Landing has become a hub of dangerous, violent and too often, deadly activity.” It further points to recent violence in the area, including a hit-and-run, a lethal stabbing and a double shooting, ultimately questioning EA’s decision in holding the event in this location.
Netflix’s Sabrina Series Will Pay Homage to The Exorcist
Netflix's upcoming Chilling Adventures of Sabrina series will pay homage to horror classic The Exorcist.
Per EW, showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa revealed each episode will serve as its own mini-movie, with one being heavily inspired by The Exorcist.
“Sabrina is the heroine in this series of mini-movies," Aguirre-Sacasa said. “I love The Exorcist. It’s one of my favorite movies. We’re doing an homage to that; we’re doing an episode that’s like
.”
Aguirre-Sacasa did not provide further details about this particular episode, but it seems fans can expect plenty of horror elements from this new Sabrina series, as it'll be a darker take on the property.